Memento Vivere
by AkaiArsony
Summary: "Remember to breathe. Remember to live. You may have resolved yourself to die together with the collapse of your grand castle, but I shall show you that there is no need for death when you have ways to find strength in this reality we live in and still find a dream worth reaching for." A what-if scenario where we retell the death game in the eyes of a certain Messiah.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own SAO nor Persona 3. All rights go to their respective creators.

* * *

He wasn't quite sure what to make out of his predicament.

One moment, he was being ushered into a room by his mentor, Akihiko Kayaba, and was asked to use the prepared Nerve Gear and test out the newly released VRMMORPG that was Sword Art Online—the brainchild of Kayaba and his explorations deep into the technology of that encompassed the use of the senses in a different plane. The next, he was already exploring some fantasy world of blades and skills, only to find out that logging out was impossible, and that his mentor had managed to trap him and a multitude of people in a death game.

He did not feel rage, however.

Somehow, he had understood why Kayaba did the deed, and turned what was supposed to be a breakthrough in gaming into a place of potential carnage and despair. Kayaba had very limited regard for the world of the real, and wished to see his ambitious castle "float", above all else—and what better way to see this spectacle happen than in the virtual world?

"Minato, say I give you some sort of 'skill' to overcome as many obstacles and challenges in real life. How would you utilize such a thing?" Kayaba once asked him. He eyed the deadpan that clearly painted the visage of his mentor, sighed, and decided to humor the man.

"I would use it just as you have said—to overcome troubles in life."

Kayaba raised an eyebrow, an amused spark glinting in his eyes. "Then, let me amend my query—given the choice, would you use it for yourself, for others, or a different cause altogether?"

". . . Why curious?"

"Why answer with a question?"

Back then, he had only waved it off and dismissed it as another one of those idealistic discussions he had often held with the man. Thinking on it now, he was quite confident that on the three years he had spent working under and with Kayaba, he had grown to understand the man's beliefs and thoughts regarding the way people went on to chase after ambitions or succumb under the despair that embraces life so closely. It was similar to how he had understood his peers of many years back, his Social Links being the tool that allowed him a better grasp of the friends he held close to heart like family.

For what those three years were worth, he even considered Kayaba part of the family that nurtured his heart. The man may rival him in keeping emotions under the hood, but he knew enough to read that even Kayaba could develop some worldly attachments such as bonds.

Swiping his hand down from the air, a menu manifested itself in front of him. Remembering the mechanics of the game from the beta test he was forced into, much to hi chagrin, he made his way into the contact list and wasn't surprised when he had found one user name that couldn't hide any identity from him.

He tapped on the singular name that bore "Heathcliff".

**I understand why you did this, but let me get some things straight. Meet me at the gate leading out of the Starting City.**

Tapping on 'send', he then closed his menu and decided to chuck down a few of the boar-like monsters that seemed to be grazing at the open fields outside the walls of the town area. A good fifteen-minute grinding sounded perfect to him, as it was one of Kayaba's bad habits that he would always arrive 15 minutes past an appointed meeting, which Koujiro Rinko had always berated him for.

Drawing out the short sword sheathed on his back, he rushed towards one of the unsuspecting beasts. As his blade shone into a menacing shade of crimson, he spun forward as he slashed, turned, threw his sword in midair and caught it with the other hand, then hit the beast's snout with the pommel of his weapon. As it drew back, flinched from the blow, he wasted no time completing his technique's form and rammed the length of his blade straight through the boar.

Gale Slash .

The sword skill was a low-level slash-type attack that his Personas had used back when he had just been starting out in SEES. He remembered the speed of his movement as he executed the slashes with help from Shiisa, each slice moving as fast as gale force winds.

His lips unconsciously curved upward as stared at his pale reflection on his sword, remembering Kayaba's reaction the first time he tried summoning a Persona in this world. Never has he seen such an expression of shock, wonder, disbelief, and curiosity mix itself perfectly onto one face. The man demanded an explanation from him about how an incarnation of the fearsome Greek death god Thanatos was lounging on his favorite spot on the couch in his laboratory. Recalling the memory, it was his first summoning without the aid of his trusty evoker, but nevertheless it had gone quite well.

After a few more rounds and a level up later, a ping alerted him to a message in his inbox. He smirked after having read the message, and decided to forestall his trip to the gate and instead sit by the grassy slope.

**I think it inappropriate to meet by the Starting City. Wait by the grass and save me a boar, I would like to monster-hunt for a bit with you before I churn out the answers I know you need.**

Closing away his menu, he then spotted a muscular man in starting gear trudging up the small slope, and smirked as he thought the avatar far too unfitting for Kayaba.

"You gave us mirrors that showed who we truly are and you appear as some suave-looking hero? Did you seriously think this through?"

'Heathcliff' returned his smug sentiment.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I did think this through."

* * *

**A short idea that snuck into my brain and gave me a slight productivity incline today. Not sure if going to continue this. We'll see. And if anyone asks, no, this is not yaoi, and yes, Kirito will not be here. Why? Because I would like to explore a world where instead of him, Minato will be our protagonist.**

**Like it? Read and review? Dislike it? Move along to a new fic and don't even bother wasting on hate-mail or hate-reviews. Until next time.**

**~AkaiArsony**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own SAO nor Persona 3. All rights go their respective owners and creators.

* * *

"This world is nothing but the '_Grand Castle of Follies and Illusion_'." Heathcliff stood still as he waited for another of the boars to attack him, and as it did he merely moved a few inches to the side to dodge and then stab the beast with the silver saber that glowed turquoise as it charged with the energy to perform a Sword Skill.

With a final grunt of pain, the monster froze and glowed into a multitude of colored pigments and then burst into glass-like pixels with the accompanying sound effect. The words "_Level Up!_" hung over Heathcliff's head, and at that point Heathcliff then quickly opened his menu and proceeded to distribute his gained skill points and improve his skill branch. He then turned to Minato after finishing, and continued the conversation.

"What I just did was a prime example of what I have told you."

The bluenette nodded, and then spoke up regarding his grasp of what Heathcliff was trying to say. "In this virtual environment ruled over by a system that enforces the constructs of the game it was built on, it is obvious that numbers, designating your level and skill aptitude, will be the measure of strength in this death game."

Heathcliff flashed him an uncharacteristic smile. The lad felt that the expression was far out of place for his mentor who had always maintained a silent and serious demeanor during the whole duration of the development of Sword Art Online. "That is correct. Though it might just be an illusion to the world of reality—"

"—here, where that illusion reigns supreme as the natural law of the land, power gained from high enough digits serve to be basis upon who will stay to live and who will soon be sleeping six feet deep."

Right after Kayaba had used another avatar to announce the new, deathly mechanics of SAO, those who would prove to be saner would begin to actually try and gain levels in order to become strong by the terms of the game and begin their climb to the top of Aincrad to seek a way out of this supposed nightmare. For them, it was obvious that even if the risks had become clear, the only deterrent to their early demise would be power amassed from within the confines of this '_reality_'. Hence, as long as they kept their fangs sharp enough, they would at least secure a high enough chance of pulling through.

However, there was also another issue to be considered. Even if there are those who want out of SAO, it can be said that not everyone may actually want to escape. There may be those who have thoughts akin, if not completely similar, to those of Akihiko Kayaba's—Sword Art Online was but a dream come true where the painful clutches of reality, powerlessness, and fate would be far distant from them. If so, it is inevitable that there would be people who would become drunk from the delusion of strength given unto them by the very construct that this floating castle had been built upon:

It was still a game, no matter how you look at it—play poorly, and it shall serve to spell your end.

That last strand of thought left itself unsaid at the back of Minato's mind. He knew that Kayaba might say the same as he would, but with a different phrasing of his own.

"Even then, my protege, it is pertinent that you remember this: this may be a game, but it isn't just something you play."

_Ah, there we go, _the bluenette thought as a smirk made itself visible from the curve of his lips. Ignoring the questioning look Heathcliff gave him, he then asked a question.

"Designing features such as forging weapons, making clothes, buying houses, cooking, and music—what was the point of such things? Did you actually consider the possibility of—"

"—experiencing **[Life]** here in Aincrad? What do you think?" Heathcliff cut him off and still finished his sentence, causing the bluenette to frown and sigh. The apparent look of amusement displayed on Kayaba's avatar irked him, and it was times like these when his mentor actually showed smugness that he would rather talk to the seemingly robot-like demeanor the man usually stayed with.

"Your tone tells me yes. I've yet to actually experience the functions of those features firsthand, but I already know where you're getting at."

The obvious reason plausible enough to fit into logic behind those features would again revolve around the people who actually didn't want to leave the nigh utopian provisions of SAO. Cut off from the outside world, what better way to live to the fullest and truly seize the day than by living their lives altogether with the fantasies of a game world?

"Ka—no, Heathcliff."

"What is it?"

He drew in a breath, and then looked at the setting sun that lit the field of grass in a fiery shade of orange. In all honesty, there was nothing more that he wanted to question relating to the makes of this game and the possible actions that the currently trapped players may do; he was more curious as to what was presently running through the mind of his mentor.

"Do you plan on _living _here in Aincrad? Has that become your ambition?"

He was reminded of the fact that while this man had worked so hard to create this virtual world, it was only a task and not a dream nor ambition. It wasn't as if SAO was done on a whim, but Kayaba had always told him back then that he did not have any particular ambition to accomplish in life.

Heathcliff stared at him long and hard, before finally deciding to give an answer. "To be completely honest with you, even I am unsure."

Minato frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I merely wished to see this palace of swords traverse the limitless regions of the skies. And to see it doing so now, I feel that simply just having it in that condition as nothing more than a battleground for its players that can soon become easily boring and repetitive to experience. Maybe I also wish to see how people would react given the choice to remain, or to leave and take the risk of escape and meet with death. Maybe I am curious to know how they would respond to the power given to them by this world. To this moment, it is safe to say I possess no ambition still. However," Heathcliff brought emphasis on the word, a trait he had acquired when he truly wished others to know of a long and well-thought out decision, "if Aincrad were to plummet down to its destruction, so too shall I follow as the captain and willingly fall to my end."

The weight of his resolve came with the depth of his voice, and the seriousness his eyes burned as radiant as the sun that shone over them in the fields of the first floor of Aincrad. The bluenette nodded, and knew right from there that he was not about to let his mentor do something so stupid that contradicted the brains that described one Akihiko Kayaba. The thoughts that now ran through his mind reminded him of the way humans called over for Nyx, for Death, and wished to escape the pains and despair caused by the bounded reality that they could no longer endure. He did not want to save the man who had become somewhat of a father to him for three years just because he believed he could do it—no, that would be too shallow of him.

What he wanted to do was different.

"Let's have a bet."

Heathcliff gave him a look of surprise, but nonetheless the bluenette was sure that he had caught his mentor's curiosity in his intricately spur-of-the-moment-woven web. "Oho? What do you have in mind, Minato?"

"At the hundredth floor, the zenith of your '_Grand Castle of Follies and Illusion_', we'll hold a duel. If you win, you pull the plug on me and serve Hannibal my toasted brain. If I win, you release the rest of the players except for me and you—then I'll have you do me a favor."

". . . For you to become this conniving, I expect you to have learned a thing or three from Rinko?" Minato smirked. "Who knows. So, how about it?"

"You have never beaten me at _goban_."

"That's an entirely different ordeal. What are you insinuating?"

Heathcliff slyly smiled at the bluenette. He then swiped his right hand in midair, opening his menu. A minute and a half later, a beeping sound prompted Minato to open his menu, and selected the section for Skills, which had its button glowing with an azure outline. Browsing through his skill list, the bluenette's confusion died when the name of an unfamiliar skill crossed his vision.

_. . . What are you thinking, Kayaba? This is . . . overboard._

". . . I take it that this is your answer?"

Heathcliff turned his back, and began walking back to the Starting City. Minato continued to stand on the spot, doing nothing more than staring at Heathcliff's back which was getting smaller and smaller as he trudged on back to the town area. Nodding to himself and sighing, Minato then grins one more time at the figure of his mentor, before finally rushing off to find the labyrinth that would give him passage towards the next floor.

"The hundredth floor it is then, Heathcliff. Until next time."

The last thing he felt after then was a spark that lit the Chariot Arcana.

* * *

A month had passed since then.

Of the 10000 players who were initially trapped within the walls of death that was Sword Art Online, 2000 had already perished and ceased their lives both in the castle of swords and in the world of reality. Though a number of players still found the entire "die in the game, die in the real" situation dubious, Minato was quite sure that Kayaba indeed told the truth about the rule he had set up. If there was anything he knew best about the man, it was that he told lies so bad even Rinko could tell when Kayaba would be dishonest even before the brilliant man could utter a word.

Throughout the whole month, Ka—no, Heathcliff had sent him but one mail which he had found to be quite cryptic. Minato was unsure if the piece of advice his mentor gave him was to be taken literally, or be analyzed for the depth it held.

**A word of caution, Minato—it pays to be prepared, but situations change and we must adapt based on what information we hold prior to and during battle. Beware the color of _steel;_ it just might spell your doom.**

Minato played the message over and over in his brain as he followed a straight path in the forest. Past this area, if he was right, the next town near the boss room dungeon would be found, and it was only a matter of beating **that goblin-dog** in order to truly begin climbing up to the top of Aincrad.

The lad sighed. "His words don't make sense. Just what is he trying to say . . . ?" He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, still seeking to understand the premise surrounding the advice. Finding no answer rise from his ocean of thoughts, he focused on the task at hand and made a note to just maybe ask Heathcliff later on. The gates of the next town grew closer in his sights, and maybe a night's sleep at the inn could help clear his muddy thoughts concerning some of the things that made no sense to him.

* * *

He sat at the forum, paying close attention to the way the player in the middle handled the discussion concerning the planned boss raid on the first floor's guardian. Looking at the blue-haired player clad in bronze armor, he knew that his earlier gut feeling was right when he thought he might have recognized him. And so he did when he found out the man's username—

Diavel.

During the beta test of the game, Kayaba handed him the task of monitoring some promising names while he himself was pushed into playing the closed beta, much to his distaste. At the time, Rinko's cooking lessons had sounded much more promising than the 250000 yen offer for joining the beta from Kayaba. He relented once his mentor threatened to kick him out and leave him to be a hobo. Which he had no plans of becoming.

Of the 1000 beta testers, which included himself, he was made to remember the usernames of the talented players by memory and heart alone. Memorizing them, he then later tallied their in-game achievements and traced their activity logs in the beta. However, since he was only one of the many who have been tasked by Kayaba to do the same, he was assigned to observe only a group of 99 players, as the observation was divided into 10 groups of 100 each, with the observer already part of the hundred. And in his group, he clearly remembered several names of some skilled players, with talents not only encompassing combat, but also deceit and cunning.

Though the avatar of the one speaking in front was far from the original Diavel's, Minato was quite sure that this was the same player. And with the hearty and inspiring speech moving the hearts of the rest of audience into being propelled for action for the upcoming boss raid, a hidden agenda keeps itself latched behind the shadows of his words, thought the bluenette.

Another peculiarity that had caught his attention was a specific number of players and the hue of their indicators.

If his memory served to be correct, an orange represented the act of a crime, and red meant that the player had **[Player Killed] **or PK-ed another. Only a month had passed, and atrocious crimes ranging from stealing, ambushes, and killing between players had already been reported some number of times.

Upon arrival at the town, he had specifically counted three players bearing an indicator the color of grey. The three all had gone to the forum, and Minato had managed to procure the usernames of the two in the same crowd as him, with the third being Diavel who stood in the middle of the hype concerning the boss raid. Counting the three, Diavel, Coper, and Argo, he could not believed the common thread that tied the three—the coincidence was simply too much.

All three were beta testers, and, what's more, were handled by Minato in his assigned observation group.

Aside from the fact of the indicators, he was able to notice the slight reactions of the three when a player who announced himself as Kibaou had taken center stage and demanded that beta testers take responsibility for the number of players who had already passed away after having been "abandoned" by those who participated during the closed beta. Minato took note of the paled expression Coper had given, Argo refusing to look at the center, and Diavel's discomfort up front. The reactions provided more ground to his thoughts. Shortly after, a large-built man named Egil had later put a lid on Kibaou's ranting and steered the meeting back on its course.

_Thinking back to Heathcliff's last message, was this what he meant?_

**Beware the color of _steel;_ it just might spell your doom.**

If his hunch was correct that he had been given some way to identify a beta tester, he didn't know what to make of it. What was Heathcliff's trying to do by giving him this ability? The **unwanted gift** from earlier was already too much, and this sudden revelation was already giving him a headache. What did Heathcliff want from him? Was this something of concern to their gamble?

"Alright, everyone! Please form parties of six members each. It is imperative that we maximize the number of ways we can utilize our advantage of possessing different weapon types and skill pools in order to come up with multiple tactical points to explore in combat."

The bluenette was broken out of his stupor when he realized all the others had already begun banding together in small parties, and he had already seen both Argo and Coper be taken away into different groups. Sighing, he craned his neck left and right to search for an incomplete group or any other individual who was not part of a party yet, and finally spotted a solitary cloaked figure seated a few feet away. Not waiting for a second more, he stood and made his way to the player.

"Mind if we party together?" He mentally palmed at the straightforwardness he was quite unable to get rid of from his way of speaking. It made it sound like he was just going to use this person.

". . . Why me? Why not ask around the rest? There might be other open spots in some of the other groups."

He recognized that the tone was female, and was quite taken aback by fact that she was the only girl in this boss raid. Keeping a lid on his reaction, he still made an effort to team up with the cloaked player.

"This alliance will be temporary. Fighting alone this early into game is far too risky. So, I'll ask again—mind if we party together?"

It had felt like it was an eternity before the girl finally responded with a small nod. Minato then followed the party invitation protocol of the game, and then successfully registered his temporary duo with the girl. After finishing, the bluenette put out his hand in front of her, a gesture of courtesy and proper introduction that Rinko had drilled into his blunt demeanor when meeting with people.

"Minato. Feel free to call me so. And you are?"

Though the usernames were accessible information to the party members as they were displayed on the top left of the view, he felt that introductions were still in order even if his peripheral vision already spotted her name. After all, small pleasantries like this would become an experience far and few in between once the race to the top became more serious.

The girl then stretched out her hand, albeit still with a little reluctance, and finally made to return the gesture and courtesy. For a moment, the bluenette could have sworn he had spotted a face of beauty, with eyes of hazel obscured by a few locks of dangling chestnut-colored hair doing their best to avoid his line of sight.

"Asuna. A pleasure."

After the shaking of hands, the Sun Arcana flared up in his soul.

* * *

**My writing mojo's slowly returning. Finally.**

**Anyways, my updates will still be erratic-so that's a word of warning to those who'd want more in such a short length of time. I'm still trying to fix some problems IRL, so expect the next chapter when I'm feeling a little more inspired.**

**Darkkon27: I appreciate the encouragement and hype. Thank you.**

**Death276: Ah, I apologize if I had you misunderstand me in my previous A/N. I have no problems with criticisms, as long as they make sense and actually HELP me improve. I'm a pretty sensible person. Hahaha. Thanks for the support, here's to hoping you stay for the ride.**

**droffatsstafford: I recommend reading the light novels instead. Though the anime is a different experience, it actually obscures a lot of little details; these details, I believe, are quite useful tidbits to explore in fiction writing, in my opinion.**

**And the recommendation for the light novels, I would like to extend that to all those who would like to read this. I'm actually rereading the novels that give me the data I need for the starting arc, and the little things are actually some points worth exploring. If you don't have the time, there's the SAO Wiki too, I suppose.**

**Also, one thing I'd like to explore in this fic that some might disagree on, but nevertheless it is something I believe to be an idea people considered before:**

**Akihiko Kayaba living after the events that led to the freeing of the remaining SAO players. Not sure if anyone else has done this, but I'd still like a swing at it.**

**Like it? Read and review. Dislike it? Spare us the argument if it's hate-review and move along. Until next time.**

**~AkaiArsony**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own SAO nor Persona 3. All rights go to their respective owners and creators.

* * *

Man doth not live on bread alone.

He played the quote over and over again in his mind as he lazily chewed the bland version of what Akihiko Kayaba perceived to be bread fit for the entire duration of the start in Sword Art Online. While cursing the fact that his mentor never really ate much outside of sandwiches, instant noodles, and, well, bread, he bit off another chunk of the breadstuff and stared off into space, wondering why he chose to have skipped the quest one town back which gave five small pots containing some sweet cream as reward for the subjugation of a few monsters.

_I'll just have to make do with imagining the taste, I guess._ He sighed, wondering if his companion who took only nibbles even considered the taste of the food.

His eyes darted over every now and then to Asuna, who had barely struck up any kind of conversation with him since their alliance earlier. He had only managed to get nods and shakes of the head, and very short answers whenever he decided to ask questions or state some completely obvious things.

Another sigh escaped him. _And here I was, thinking only **I** had the license to stay silent_. Though he himself knew best what it meant when people didn't speak much and kept a lot to themselves, he was dumbfounded as to how he should handle the situation and actually have the girl even try to open up a little about, well, herself or whatever subject came to mind. If he could not at least establish some rapport with his temporary partner, it would be a factor that the death game can and will exploit in order to wipe them out this early into the climb up Aincrad.

". . . Why do you chose to fight?"

He raised his head up to face Asuna, who had surprised him quite a bit for the question. He blinked at her, wondering how he should go about the question. Although he had but a priority, he couldn't really say that all other objectives he had were to be ignored or underestimated.

"I do not wish to stay in one place rotting away. This game won't finish itself, and I certainly will not be waiting for a miracle to whisk us out of this peril."

Turning away from him, Asuna mouthed the words "I see" and fixated her sight on the pavement. I continued to look at her, and then decided to shoot back her question. "How about you, why do you fight?"

". . . I do not want to lose sight of myself. Once I do and hold on to despair, this game would have beaten me. As long as I could be me until the very end, then death would not be so bad."

A sense of self, without any air of deep hate for any unsightly character hidden away in the nooks of her heart.

He recalled the time when SEES very nearly had lost its way. The members were filled fear and despair, their hearts in conflict as to what they should do. While they had mulled over what it was that truly had to be done against the impossibility named Nyx, he never missed a day out on Tartarus. He continued to train and climb, and when they continued to see him leave at midnight's strike and come back with a body that was battered and bruised from the claws of the Shadows, they realized then that hope came to those who chose to act, and that they would rather meet their ends fighting as who they were rather than die wallowing in fear of a foe allegedly impossible to defeat.

In this game, death was not truly an inevitability—each and everyone had the chance to survive still, and that would revolve around how they did their best to stay strong. If Asuna had the drive to not lose hope and carry on with her will, then that is where she can draw strength to face the challenges in Aincrad.

The tone the girl had used as she spoke was filled with conviction and power. The lad had the feeling that she wasn't really the loner type that he had been in the past—perhaps she did not know anyone else in the game altogether and had been carrying her feelings all by herself. He of all people knew the weight of hiding everything behind masks, multiple ones at that. Indifference had been a defense not only to brave the world, but also to mask his sorrow and grief over the loved ones he was unable to protect back then.

_Maybe that cloak, too, is a way for her to keep her burdens and hide them from this world._

He was always chided back then by SEES's resident archer for being too forward in his words. He never really changed that, for it was how he had been able to outright help his friends during the time he spent with them. Whether it was with SEES or those of his other links, he would rather listen more and speak less, but with straightness to address the problem, in order to guide them towards the light he knew they sought.

Feeling the Sun Arcana softly tug at his heart, he drew in a deep breath and decided to shed some more hope for his party member.

"It is not exactly convincing to hear you say that with that cloak over your face." It was then that the girl took her eyes away from the blank road and incline her view unto him.

"What do you mean?"

"If you value who you are and would wish to fight as so, why not hold your head up high?" he spoke softly, with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He felt the Sun Arcana flicker its flame brighter for a moment, and as if on cue he saw Asuna shift uncomfortably in front of him as she held her hood lower, hinting him of a growing embarrassment.

Knowing that he'd said enough, he then gave a shrug and resumed eating the bread he had after receiving no further response from the girl. A minute or two of pregnant silence later, save for the chewing noises Minato made, Asuna then turned to the bluenette once more.

"Well, it _is _unfair that only I know your face. After all, our avatars have been overridden by our real-life looks, anyway. . . but . . ."

"it is not a matter of you only you knowing what I look like—it is as I have said before. Your words hold little truth to them when even you choose to put a hood over your head. I hope you do not take offense in what I say, but I merely wish to express my opinion." He faced Asuna as he waited for a response of sorts, and when the girl had nodded in his direction, he stood up and continued. "If you really choose to fight to keep hope alive and that you reach the finale still as yourself, why not try to inspire the same hope in others?"

He had learned to never lose hope from a very dear friend—one who pursued the tale of a pink alligator until his last breath. And if in his end, he could smile as wide as that and be joyful, surely Akinari had left him a legacy that he would wish to keep close to heart and even share the warmth with those willing.

As he looked at the girl, the Arcana inside of him spoke of bits and pieces of a personality that had potential to share the same warmth as Akinari had. Hope and joy was the gift of the Sun with its rising, and those gifts are never lost too long for the after it sets it is sure to rise again. His bond would so not be defined by such if that kind potential did not rest with Asuna.

The girl then stood in front of him, and before he could utter another word, she then threw back the cloak's hood with her hands and slowly lifted her head so as for her eyes to meet his.

No, not really. That was just a situation his imagination had conjured.

The girl had stood in front of him, as if wanting to say something, and then marched towards the town inn without even throwing him a glance of any sort.

An awkward feeling crept up his gut, but the way the Sun's flames flickered in his soul told him that he was somehow getting through.

* * *

He made a mental note to avoid stoking the flames of Asuna's wrath.

Midway into the morning, he had asked her if she had known been in a party before and if she knew of the necessary battle tactics and protocols to follow when in a group battle. After the girl had answered with a brief shake of her head, he was relieved that he had taken caution to ask her. If didn't, he might have just placed their lives at great risk by participating in the upcoming boss raid.

The rest of the morning was spent in practicing with a few mobs. They chose a clearing which was relatively near to the town gate and was occupied by the weaker monsters, and there he began instructing her on the basics of **[Switching]**. The concept, as he had learned way back into the beta test, had one of the party members assaulting the enemy while the some or the rest were put in reserve for strategic observations as to how to handle the monster and the current predicament. Upon the signal of **[Switch]**, the player or players called upon by the one on offense are to go in and change places with the previous fighter. The tactic allowed flexibility and analysis of the target, and creation of well-timed plans against even difficult opponents. Aside from that, it also sharpened teamwork and coordination between members of the party.

Though they only picked out some wolf-type monsters which were levels weaker than themselves, he thought it was overkill when he **[Switched] **with Asuna and the girl went in and decimated the monsters with quick thrusts of her rapier, moving at speeds that could potentially rival, no, even outmatch Mitsuru's techniques in combat.

He even felt bad about the monsters, wondering if this was this world's counterpart of the Kirijo heiress's famed executions. He gulped at the thought, and decided not to test that theory.

"You learn fast. How are the levels of your skills?"

Asuna turned to him, and then swiped in front of her to materialize her menu and browse through her skill set. "They're enough for the boss fight."

"How about your defensive skills, like Parry?"

". . . I've been quite focused on offense on my skill build. It did not cross my mind much to invest in defenses. . . yet."

The boy nodded. "Ah, it is as I thought. Okay, we'll be clearing out a few more mobs to net you some level ups and build up your defensive skills. Parry will suffice for the boss raid."

"Won't it be quite unneeded if I am fast enough to dodge blows? Besides, there are quite a number of us in the raid."

The lad shook his head. "Numbers never win the battles—it is preparation. Since your skill set develops techniques that derive from fencing, Parry is very useful. Deflecting your opponent's attack and putting them in an awkward position gives you a chance to counterattack, or _riposte_. If you're fast enough, launching a _Prise de Fer _is quite nice too, although it is much more applicable to foes with weapons."

He sensed an air of confusion from the girl. Realizing he had ranted on about something she might not have been knowledgeable of, he followed up his earlier instruction. "Ah, forgive me. It was rude to have assumed you fenced. What I meant was that if you parried effectively, it opens up an opportunity to strike. _Prise de Fer_ is a fencing term that refers to gaining control of your foe's weapon by altering its position or course to your advantage. It can also be used to initiate off-balancing your opponent and then going in for the kill. Do you understand?" A nod from her answered it. "Good. Well, let's go and get your skills polished."

The next hours were spent leveling up Asuna and netting her enough points to have a Parry useful enough for the boss raid of the first floor's dungeon. The extra levels were also a boon, the lad considered, as she was now just a few numbers away from his level and also upped her chances of survival for around two more villages after the second floor's starting town by his estimate.

While they had trained, the girl had become a little more talkative, with queries concerning battle style and form with her weapon of choice. He had little difficulty teaching her some of the more basic concepts and moves in fencing, flourishing them from his memories as the same tutoring that Mitsuru had given him when he was mastering as many possible weapons to give him much more flexibility in combat. Though its style fitted the thinner and speedy type of swords, he nevertheless managed to adapt some techniques in his fighting with the one-handed sword and befell more Shadows by the strikes of his attacks.

However, he also took into coordination that teaching her fencing basics at this point may become obsolete. Sword Art Online had been programmed with its system that sword skills implemented into its database would be initialized and executed as long as the player follows the needed conditions for activation, such as body position, sword position, weapon type, stance, and other combat factors. But during the beta test of the game, he was able to worm out from Kayaba that players who had aptitude or already had some sort of knowledge and practice of a specific weapon-wielding sport, kendo for example, would have less difficulty initializing their chosen sword skill. Their brains would unconsciously repeat the martial forms of combat in their minds, and that becomes a basis for how the system will cooperate with them and enhance the potency of the sword skill.

"Let's end here. Your Parry skill level is sufficient, **[Switching]**is no longer a problem, and you can now utilize your weapon much more efficiently. Shall we return to the inn?" At his question, Asuna had nodded, agreeing with the suggestion. And as he turned to walk back to the village, he was stopped in his tracks by a query posed by his party member.

"Why do you choose to help me? What are you to gain by this?"

There was something in her tone that tugged at him. "What do you mean?"

"You seem much more knowledgeable about combat, and while I am grateful for your input, it has been gnawing at me—why choose to help me when clearly you can accomplish a lot more by yourself? Aren't I hampering your progress?"

The lad sighed and then smiled warmly at the girl. _Ah, so that was it._ "No one's dragging anyone down. It is all as I had said last night—if you truly valued your sense of self and chose to protect it through fighting with all your might, then do it with your head raised proudly. I know I sound presumptuous telling you to do so and reveal your face, which is why another way to help you is to have you gain strength from which you may pride yourself in as the face that would define you in this world of swords, where strength in numbers become the illusion of your power."

If she really valued showing her identity, then that was her choice in the end. However, he wanted her to remember that such things were already immaterial in this world, for even people knew of who you were, the identity they would still recognize is the power generated by your skill in combat to fight in this death game.

". . . How can you say all that? Don't get me wrong—I am grateful, but I just can't understand why you'd go this far to help me. In this game, others may already be planning to hide what they know to gain an edge to survival."

That was a good question. Just how was it that he was able to speak of such things?

_Simple._

"Let's just say I take pride and joy in nurturing my bonds and helping people in general." A warm smile lit up his face as he phrased the words with truth and conviction. As he watched the girl and waited for a reaction from her, he was surprised by what the girl had done next—she had opened up her menu and unequipped her hooded cloak.

And his smile had turned into a look of wonder.

_Radiant._

That was all that he could think of Asuna.

Her fair and unblemished skin basked in the glow of the setting, afternoon sun of Aincrad. Locks of chestnut-dyed hair danced away with the sudden passing breeze, and her gaze—in her eyes were a delicateness and warmth, complemented by a burning conviction that had her expression lit up. Her clothes traced a figure comparable to a goddess, and the sword she held that emphasized her grace and deadliness in battle equated her to one image in his mind—

A battle-maiden. A Valkyrie.

A visage of strength and beauty that descends upon the bloodied fields of the war zone Aincrad has become between Akihiko Kayaba and the players. Truly, her beauty was a spectacle he did not come to imagine.

". . . D-don't stare too much, _baka. . . ._"

The Sun Arcana burned with fifty shades of embarrassment inside of him.

* * *

**Another update. Mojo's getting better and better, although I've lost sight of my muse IRL. ;_; Writing without inspiration just ins't the same, *sigh*.**

**Sine Faciem's next chapter will be following this shortly, so for the readers of this who also know SF, stay posted for it!**

**This is a bit shorter than the previous, and I wanted to explore a little character interaction between Minato and Asuna. Hopefully it all melded together as I wished it would and that their interaction and time spent would not seem forced or anything. It was quite the challenge to write this, though, since I still haven't finished conceptualizing the Minato I would want to have for MV. However, his picture is starting to come together quite nicely and we will be seeing it flourish later on.**

**I would also like to mention that from here on out, I will be utilizing the canon story details under my discretion, so if you notice explicit changes then I have meant for those. This is to serve as a mental note, so do take notice of this to avoid us the headaches in the review section.**

**droffatsstafford****: Thanks for the support. I could totally sympathize, though-it really is a pain sometimes to act all fake just for the sake of maintaining social norms.**

**Death276: Thanks for the review. I appreciate that you have been critical with the story, and I believe your thoughts and suggestions would help a lot in the future for improvement of the story and whatnot. Kudos!  
**

**ShadowsVoid2 & KO: I appreciate the interest. Do stay for the ride, it's all uphill from here (hopfully)! And as for Kayaba's little gift? Well, I'll leave that to your imagination. *wink, wink***

**Social Linker 0****: I see you spotted the reference. Hahahaha.**

**P17****: Social Links will be exploited in the future for their use, but they will be appearing during the Aincrad arc. And yes, Unique Skills will also make their appearances. In terms of considering how Minato affects the timeline, well, we'll see what happens.**

**Like it? Read and review. Dislike it? Spare us the argument if it's hate-review and move along. Until next time.**

**~AkaiArsony**


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